The Cutback Band: I Found Hugo

Hugo Ekitike scored both goals in Liverpool's 2-0 win over Brighton. Two of his five other chances may have pleased Arne Slot more though.

Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Brighton was a fantastic advert for the Premier League. Not so much in terms of the drama, perhaps, but it was an excellent example of the overall standard.

The Reds played pretty well. There were certainly none of the horrendous mistakes that have plagued the team, no doubt aided by the confidence and security that a first minute lead brings.

Yet Brighton amassed three big chances and almost two expected goals. The Seagulls finished eighth last season. They will likely be in that vicinity come May too. While not an elite side, they demonstrated the problems they can cause a Champions League team on their own patch. It all made for a very watchable match.

The performance of Curtis Jones was rightly praised. The influence of Florian Wirtz continued to grow too, with this another fine afternoon for the German. It was Hugo Ekitike who left the biggest impression, not just in terms of his two goals.

He delivered the sort of intensity, movement and hard running that we simply have not seen Alexander Isak provide, setting a new PB for high intensity sprints in a Premier League game in the process. The way in which the Reds can play is being at least partly determined by which of their big money summer strikers is front and centre.

There were two chances for Ekitike on Saturday which carried greater interest than those which were converted. He had taken three shots by the 20th minute, a total no player on either side topped by full time. After profiting from a headed pass to score, the Frenchman’s next two chances came via cutback crosses. These are one of Arne Slot’s “four very effective ways to score”.

“A cutback cross that arrives has a much greater chance of a goal than an attempt at goal from a high cross. A player can run into a pulled ball and use the speed of the pass to shoot. An opportunity from a returned cross relatively often leads to a goal, provided the ball is passed over the ground without bounce.”

ARNE SLOT, 2017

The similarities between the final execution notwithstanding, the build-ups to the two chances against Brighton were very different. They’re worth reviewing, particularly as we haven’t seen Slot’s Liverpool produce this sort of opening too often.

The first followed a path which Kopites would like to see more frequently. Virgil van Dijk played a diagonal ball (from a goal kick) out to Gomez on the right. He beat a man, made it to the byline then pulled the ball back to Ekitike. Not Joe’s natural game, it’s easier to picture Conor Bradley or Jeremie Frimpong doing this and at greater speed.

The second Ekitike cutback took rather longer to fashion. It concluded a period of possession lasting almost 100 seconds, with all 10 outfield players involved in a 40-pass sequence.

Chalkboard for build-up to Ekitike’s second cutback chance

The chalkboard highlights the earlier point regarding Ekitike’s movement; see how his #22 is involved on both the left flank and in a right half space area. Here’s the section of the move which truly matters, with Wirtz carrying the ball into the Brighton box to create the chance.

Whether these would strictly count as cutbacks is up for debate. Ekitike was just about in the centre of the penalty area - the danger zone - for the first, then clearly in the right of the box for the second. The relatively low respective xG values of 0.06 and 0.05 reflect that these were not exactly the effective method of attacking that Slot craves.

But then they were created by an out-of-position centre-back and two players still in their first six months in new countries with new clubs. These things take time to blossom. That said, Wirtz and Ekitike linked up in a similar position at Leeds, albeit when reacting within a period of pressure rather than at the end of a piece of build-up play. They are combining reasonably well in moments.

A review of Stats Zone chance creation pitch maps has not uncovered many other examples from this season. There were some pullbacks that were not that advanced in the box; Mohamed Salah and Wirtz each teed up Dominik Szoboszlai against Bournemouth and Everton respectively. Neither added much to the expected goal tally in either game.

A better one in that sense occurred against Nottingham Forest, in the encouraging portion of the match (e.g. when it was 0-0). Though not quite at the byline, this was more representative of what Slot would like to see as the shot taker was in the danger zone. That he was Milos Kerkez was the greater issue.

As well as seeing forwards getting the opportunities, the Liverpool head coach would presumably also like some cutback chances on the left. The Reds have generated just one in the league this season. It occurred on the road, to tick another ‘more please’ box.

Szoboszlai was the man taking the shot once again, having been played in by Cody Gakpo at Stamford Bridge. In xG terms, there have only been seven Liverpool chances of higher value in league and Europe this season that were not converted. This clip beautifully illustrates the space that can open close to goal when the defence drops deep.

Szoboszlai being on the end of several of these chances chimes with another line in the Slot interview that spawned the cutback quote: “I would rather have four players go deep [into the box] at the same time than no one at all.”

It’s having the likes of Ekitike in place to take the shots that should prove more productive though. This development in the win against Brighton may have greater long-term impact than his two goals.